Ten Keys to Safeguarding Your Business & Reliable Resources You Can Really Use

According to SmallBusinessNotes.com, economic change does not always predict a negative influence on your business. “The belief that small businesses fare poorly in economic slowdowns is a common misconception that is not generally true,” the site says. “Solidly run small businesses actually hold their own during downturns.”

SmallBusinessNotes is only one of the many web sites providing examples of things employers can do to safeguard their business against any negative influences that economic fluctuations may have on productivity in the near future. Here are a few suggestions they provide as to how you can prepare for the uncertain future:

1. Revisit your business plan.
   Sit down and revisit your business plan from the perspective of someone about to invest in your business. Then make any revisions that may seem appropriate. You may even want to identify any additional information you need to know in order to make decisions about the future of your business.
2. Seek supporters and advisors.
   If there is ever a time to network, this is it. Attorneys, certified public accountants, civic club leaders, or owners of other businesses can together serve as your “power circle.” The members of your power circle should be knowledgeable about the environment in which you do business, so that they can connect you with the information you need to make good decisions.
3. Make customer satisfaction your priority.
   Your customers are your lifeblood in any economic climate. In a downturn, they are what keep you in business, so treat them very well and spend time listening to what they like and do not like about the services you offer so that you can change what you can. Do whatever you need to do to keep your current customers loyal, and position yourself to win new customers. Also try to figure out ways you can expand what you do for your customers, perhaps by offering more products or services or fulfilling other needs that they have. Consider offering discounts to customers who are willing to sign a long-term contract, as this can add to your security.
4. Advertise/Sell.
   In a downturn, one of the first places many businesses cut expenses is in advertising – a real mistake. As part of the philosophy of expanding your base and recruiting more customers, you need to advertise and sell more than ever. During times like these, your customers will be looking for a bargain, so this is the time to get the message out.
5. Seek new business opportunities.
   A downturn sounds like a terrible time to diversify, but there are opportunities out there to be taken. Diversification gives you more stability, because a down market in one product or service may be compensated for by another product or service. The try part is, of course, finding complementary products or services that face differing market challenges. A simple example of a way to seek new opportunities is to establish an internet business for a retail store. You have provided a new way to service your regular customers and expanded the audience you reach.
6. Diversify your customer base.
   It may be possible that you have been servicing a limited subgroup within the community. For example, you may be primarily servicing a specific age, ethnic, or gender group. So with different advertising or a slight modification in the product or service you’re offering, you can reach a broader spectrum of the population.
7. Find ways to save time and money.
   Collections are a great place to start tightening your belt. Not only should you provide incentives to your customers to pay on time or even early, but you should also pay your bills on time and take care of every possible discount that you can. You should also consider lowering your prices. You need to maintain profitability, but you also need to retain your customers who are most likely hurting as well. When you find more efficient methods that allow you to cut costs, not only will you retain your customers, but you may also attract others.
8. Watch for signs and act on them.
   Look for changes in the psychology and behavior of your clientele. They may be spending less or putting projects on hold, or they may not be paying their bills as quickly. You can gain a long term relationship with a customer by approaching them proactively to let them know that you are there to help them through their own hard times.
9. Mobilize your people to save jobs.
   Economic downturns are scary times for employees. Many firms cut personnel and add to the workload of the remaining employees. Instead, involve your employees in cost cutting. Let them know that they are important to you and that you are committed to keeping them. If they know that they are perceived as an active part of the solution, they may be able to identify sources of savings that never occurred to you.
10. Acknowledge employee effort with creative rewards.
    Find rewards that are not costly yet acknowledge their efforts. Even though it may sound corny, one successful businessman placed post-it notes on the restroom mirrors every evening noting positives that had been reported about various individuals during that day. It became a delightful, early morning ritual for the employees to discover each morning what the CEO had noted from the day before.
             

Whether or not the economy is in a recession, any of these methods can strengthen your organization – and your bottom line. Return to the roots of your business, and make certain that every root is healthy. All of these principles are worth revisiting at least annually, in good or bad times.

Another way to ensure that your business can operate effectively during an economic downturn is to ensure that your business is staffed properly, and that the members of your staff are qualified, educated, and productive. Below are highlighted several state and local resources that local businesses can take tap into to ensure their staffing and operating needs are well met.

Barton Community College

Our local community college is jumping hurdles left and right in an effort to help local employers solve their workforce needs. They are doing this by implementing specialized and customized programs that are specific to the needs of the Great Bend area and that can be modified over time as those needs change.

1. Customer Service Training
   Barton Community College recently started offering customized customer service training for Great Bend area employers. Possible training topics include customer service strategies, identifying quality service standards, and measuring customer service satisfaction. These customized training sessions are offered on-site or in the classroom, and allow you to help improve your business climate to keep existing customers and hopefully gain some new ones as well.
2. Summer Lunch & Learn Series
   Beginning this summer, Barton Community college will be presenting a series of lunch and learn sessions designed to inform employers and human resources personnel about resources that lie within non-traditional employees. Various sessions will cover the ins and outs of utilizing offenders, disabled workers, older workers, and multicultural workers. The information presented during these sessions will help inform you of the different advantages and laws regarding the employment of a more diversified work force.
3. Supervisory Training Series
   Barton Community College is offering a training series for employers and business owners covering the life cycle of an employee. This series, being held January through May this year, will highlight the various methods involved with hiring, implementing and enforcing performance expectations, dealing with problem employees and the process of termination, absence management, and rewarding star employees. Educational opportunities such as these allow employers to keep up with trends in human resources, and to network with other employers to share and grow upon each others’ ideas.
4. Reach Out, Retrain, and Re-Entry (R3)
   After recently receiving a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor for workforce training in advanced manufacturing and construction trades, Barton Community College is now partnering with North Central Kansas Technical College and a host of other community-based entities to provide training for incarcerated youth and adults in Kansas correctional facilities and community corrections. The Reach Out, Retrain, and Re-entry program gives inmates an opportunity to gain industry training and skills so that they can find employment and successfully contribute to the workforce. BCC president Dr. Carl Heilman says, “Economic development and industry training support in Kansas is crucial now more than ever.”

Kansas Career Pipeline

The Kansas Career Pipeline operates in partnership with the Kansas State Department of Education, the Kansas Board of Regents, the Kansas Department of Commerce, and a growing number of business and educational organizations. This program allows individuals to figure out what their skills and interests are as well as what types of careers that other individuals with similar interests have enjoyed. Then, employers can search a database of all employees who possess the skills and interests necessary to succeed in the positions you have available. You can utilize the Pipeline to cut your employee recruitment and retention costs by helping you place exactly the right person in the right job. It can also give you access to labor trends that allow you to strategically plan for the future of your company’s human resource requirements.

KANSASWORKS!

The local KANSASWORKS office is equipped and ready to help your business find the right employees or even train the employees you already have. They offer several programs that will help identify your employees’ strengths and weaknesses, so that you as an employer can make the necessary adjustments to help utilize the right people in the right jobs.

• WORKReady Certificates
  Kansas WORKReady! is an initiative that uses WorkKeys to create a career readiness certificate to document an individual's skills in applied mathematics, their ability to locate information using charts and instruments, and their ability to read for information. WorkKeys is a reliable and nationally validated system evaluating and analyzing workplace skills. Thousands of jobs are "profiled" to identify skill levels necessary to perform each job. Skills measured by WorkKeys are transferable skills - skills necessary for most jobs.
• On-the-Job Training (OJT)
  KANSASWORKS offers OJT initiatives to many employers all across the state. OJT is defined by the Workforce Investment Act as training by an employer that is provided to a paid participant who is engaged in productive work in a job that provides knowledge or skills essential to the full and adequate performance of the job. OJT training provides payment to the employer of up to 50 percent of the wage rate of the participant, for the extraordinary costs of providing training and additional supervision related to the training. This type of on-the-job training is limited in duration as appropriate for the job the new employee is being trained for.

Great Bend Area Community Employee Recruiter

Renee Richmeier, Central Kansas’ Employee Recruiter, is able and willing to help you find employees with the right skills and qualifications necessary to succeed in your business environment. With a growing applicant pool through the Great Bend Chamber’s employment service, Central Kansas Jobs, Renee is able to represent Great Bend’s businesses at job fairs and plant closings all across Kansas. In addition, employers can post available jobs on the Central Kansas Jobs web site to increase attention for their business.

As is evident by the abbreviated list of services provided here, there are many resources available to Great Bend area employers to help with economic and workforce related fluctuations. These services, in no way, represent all of the wonderful programs available to aid employers in Central Kansas. For more resources like these, contact any one of the listed organizations or contact the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development, 620-792-2401.

Reliable Resources You Can Really Use

1. Barton Community College
   Kala Steffen, Workforce Development Training Coordinator
   245 NE 30 Road
   Great Bend, KS  67530
   620-792-2701
   www.bartonccc.edu
   
   
2. Kansas Career Pipeline
   Karen Cox, Vice President - Sales and Operations
   150 N. Main, Suite 300
   Wichita, KS  67202
   316-771-6868
   www.careerpipeline.org
   
   
3. KANSASWORKS!
   Matt Hoisington
   1025 Main Street
   Great Bend, KS  67530
   620-793-5445
   www.kansasworks.com
   
   
4. Great Bend Area Community Employee Recruiter
   Renee Richmeier
   1125 Williams
   Great Bend, KS  67530
   620-792-2401
   www.greatbend.org
   www.centralkansasjobs.com